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Born and raised in Vinkovci, (Croatia, Europe) and interested in hip hop from a young age. He started to write rap lyrics in 1998. In 1999, he started to freestyle on the local radio station VFM on a show called Black Thing. A year later (2000) he was a co-former of a hip-hop group called B2. They made the greatest hip-hop demo group hit record produced by Shot (of Elemental) with the featuring of SADE and Remi (of Elemental). He was a guest on the "8 Mile Freestyle Battle" live show held in Zagreb, in club Aquarius (in 2002). Shortly after, the group B2 fell apart and Shorty started his solo career and formed a new hip-hop group with Saba and DJ Makro Polo called Bon-Ton. At the end of 2003, he started to make records in MORRIS studio (owned by Miro Vidović) for his debut album.

At Aquarius Records, Shorty released 1,68 in 2004 with his hit records "Zeka" (with guest-appearance of Duško Čurlić), "Dođi u Vinkovce" featured by Miroslav Štivić, "Apel za mir" featured by Edo Maajka and "Božićna" featured by Remi. After three years with no records, he released his second album called Moj jedini način. The entire second album is dedicated to Shorty's cousin Tomislav "Tomi" Bartulović who was born in 1980 and died in 2005. The last track on the album talks about Shorty's love and relationship with his cousin Tomi. In song, Shorty raps: "i na kraju jos bih ti htio reci hvala, moj braticu Tomi, bila te je cast poznavat'" ("and in the end I'd also like to say thank you, my cousin Tomi, it's been an honor to know you"). In 2007 he married Ana Ambrenac.[2]

1.
Vinkovci
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Vinkovci is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Srijem County in eastern Croatia. In the 2011 census, the population of the city was 35,312. Surrounded by many villages, it is a local transport hub. The area around Vinkovci has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The Romans named the town Colonia Aurelia Cibalae, most likely during the reign of emperor Caracalla and it was the birthplace of Roman emperors Valentinian I and Valens. The Roman thermal bath is still preserved underground, along several other Roman buildings located near the center of todays Vinkovci. The 4th century Battle of Cibalae, between the armies of Constantine I and Licinius, was fought nearby, from 1526 to 1687 it was part of the Ottoman Empire, administratively located in Sirem sanjak within the Budin Eyalet. It was captured by the Habsburg Empire in 1687, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Until 1918, Vinkovci was part of the Austrian monarchy, in the Slavonian Military Frontier, under the administration of the Brooder Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment N°VII until 1881, in the late 19th and early 20th century, Vinkovci was a district capital in the Syrmia County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. From 1941 to 1945, Vinkovci was part of the Independent State of Croatia, from 17 April 1944 the city was heavily bombed by the Allies due to its important position in transportation. Vinkovci Synagogue was among the largest and the most prestigious synagogues in Croatia and it was destroyed by the government in 1941-42. The city and its surroundings were gravely impacted by the 1991–95 Croatian War of Independence. The city was close to the front lines between the forces of Croatia and the rebel Serbs, but it managed to avoid the fate of nearby Vukovar, the eastern sections of the town were substantially damaged by shelling, and the nearby village of Cerić was almost completely destroyed. The Church of Pentecost was dynamited by local Croatian forces as retaliation after rebel Serbs forces severely damaged the local Catholic rectory, the Croatian Ground Army has stationed the headquarters of its Armored-Mechanized Guard Brigade at Vinkovci barracks. The current brigade was formed in 2007 and it incorporated two former guards brigades as well as other units formed in the 1990s during the war of independence. Vinkovci is located in the part of the Slavonia region,19 km southwest of Vukovar,24 km north of Županja and 43 km south of Osijek. The city lies in a flatland on the Bosut river, at an elevation of approx,90 metres, and has a mild continental climate. Vinkovci is also part of the subregion of Syrmia

2.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period

3.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop

4.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa

5.
Zagreb
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Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. It is located in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m above sea level. In the last official census of 2011 the population of the City of Zagreb was 792,875, the wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,237,887. It is the biggest metropolitan area in Croatia, and the one with a population of over one million. Zagreb is a city with a history dating from the Roman times to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the vicinity of the city was the Roman Andautonia, the name Zagreb is recorded in 1134, in reference to the foundation of the settlement at Kaptol in 1094. Zagreb became a royal town in 1242. In 1851 Zagreb had its first mayor, Janko Kamauf, and in 1945 it was made the capital of Croatia when the demographic boom, the city extends over 30 kilometres east-west and around 20 kilometres north-south. The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific, and research institutions, Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and almost all government ministries. Almost all of the largest Croatian companies, media, and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city and it is a city known for its diverse economy, high quality of living, museums, sporting, and entertainment events. Its main branches of economy are high-tech industries and the service sector, the etymology of the name Zagreb is unclear. It was used of the city only from 1852, but it had been in use as the name of the Zagreb dioecese since the 12th century. The name is first recorded in a charter by Ostrogon archbishop Felician, dated 1134, the older form of the name is Zagrab, the modern Croatian form Zagreb is first recorded in a 1689 map by Nicolas Sanson. An even older form is reflected in Hungarian Zabrag, for this, Desy proposes the etymology of Chabrag, a well-attested hypocorism of the name Cyprian. The same form is reflected in a number of Hungarian toponyms, the name Agram was used in German in the Habsburg period, this name has been classified as probably of Roman origin but according to Desy it could be an Austrian German reanalysis of *Zugram. In Middle Latin and Modern Latin, Zagreb is known as Agranum, in Croatian folk etymology, the name of the city has been derived from either the verb za-grab-, meaning to scoop or to dig. One folk legend illustrating this derivation ties the name to a drought of the early 14th century, in another legend, a city governor is thirsty and orders a girl named Manda to scoop water from Manduševac well, using the imperative, zagrabi, Mando. The oldest settlement located near todays Zagreb was a Roman town of Andautonia, now Šćitarjevo, Gradec and Kaptol were united in 1851 by ban Josip Jelačić, who was credited for this, with the naming the main city square, Ban Jelačić Square in his honour

6.
Rapping
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The components of rapping include content, flow, and delivery. Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that rap is performed in time to a beat. Rapping is often associated with and an ingredient of hip-hop music. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre originated in Johannesburg, South Africa. Another form of rap that predates hip hop was boxer Muhammad Alis rhythmic poetry used to taunt his opponents in the 1960s and 1970s, rapping can be delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist or Beatboxer, or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies an area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word, as used to describe quick speech or repartee, the word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning to converse, today, the terms rap and rapping are so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably. The English verb rap has various meanings, such as to strike, especially with a quick, smart, or light blow, as well to utter sharply or vigorously, to rap out a command. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives a date of 1541 for the first recorded use of the word with the meaning to utter sharply, vigorously and it is these meanings from which the musical form of rapping derives, and this definition may be from a shortening of repartee. A rapper refers to a performer who raps, by the late 1960s, when Hubert G. Brown changed his name to H. Rap was used to describe talking on records as early as 1971, on Isaac Hayes album Black Moses with track names such as Ikes Rap, Ikes Rap II, Ikes Rap III, Hayes husky-voiced sexy spoken raps became key components in his signature sound. Del the Funky Homosapien similarly states that rap was used to refer to talking in a manner in the early 1970s. Back then what rapping meant, basically, was you trying to convey something—youre trying to convince somebody, thats what rapping is, its in the way you talk. Rapping can be traced back to its African roots, centuries before hip-hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by modern artists, modern day griots, spoken word artists, mainstream news sources. Grammy-winning blues musician/historian Elijah Wald and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s, Wald went so far as to call hip hop the living blues. A notable recorded example of rapping in blues music was the 1950 song Gotta Let You Go by Joe Hill Louis, not just jazz music and lyrics but also jazz poetry

7.
Jacques Houdek
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Jacques Houdek is a Croatian singer and songwriter who will represent Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song My Friend. Houdek began his solo career in 2000 and has since published many recordings and albums out which 13 have been certified silver, gold, platinum. Houdek is one of the mentors in the Croatian version of the TV talent show The Voice, during shows first season, he mentored winner Nina Kraljić. Aside from Croatian, he has sung and recorded in English, Italian, German, Spanish, French, Slovene, Macedonian, jacques Houdek was born as Željko Houdek on April 14,1981 in Velika Gorica. His last name is of Czech origin, after finishing elementary music school, Houndek enrolled in two high schools, music and vocational hairdressing. He also attended singing lessons with professor Viktorija Badrov who wanted him to opera singer. After finishing high schools in 2001 he enrolled in prestigious Berklee College of Music, honing his singing in seminars in France, Greece and Italy. Houdek continued to build up his knowledge on Berklee seminars in Europe, where he had the opportunity to be mentored by Donna McElroy, Houdek held his first solo concert on February 19,2000 in Zagreb club SAX. where he performed covers of various songs. His first single, the song Čarolija, was released in 2002 and performed by Houdek at the Dora pop festival, Croatias national competition for entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. There he was noticed by maestro Zdravko Šljivac who offered him a collaboration, the next month, Houdek signed an exclusive contract with Croatia Records, the leading music publisher in the region, with whom he has produced 13 albums. During campaign for 2007 parliamentary election, Houdek sang party anthem HDZ zna for the conservative Croatian Democratic Union which was at the time ran by Ivo Sanader and he later also sang for the mayoral campaign of the populist Milan Bandić. Houdek sayed in an interview for Jutarnji list that he is apolitical, in January 2011, Houdek placed 4th in the finals of the Open Mic UK singing contest held in Londons O2 Arena. He also participated in the British TV show X Factor, where he was given the nickname Croatian Sensation and he was unable to continue his participation in the contest because he did not receive a work permit in time. In February 2017, Houdek was selected to represent Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, in a report from 2005, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association listed him as a public figure who gave homophobic statements. In 2011, Houdek was nominated for the title Homophobe of the Decade by the LGBT Zagreb Pride organisation which called him without doubt the biggest homophobe in Croatian showbiz, Houdek is married to Brigita Krkač since 2006 with whom he has two children, daughter Sofija and son David. 2016 My Friend,2017 Four-time winner of the Croatian music award Porin, producers Predrag Martinjak, Tihomir Ivanetić, Bojan Šalomon, Nikša Bratoš, David Vurdelja, Tihomir Preradović, Mahir Sarihodžić, Olja Dešić, Boris Đurđević, Dalibor Paurić, Hrvoje Runtić et al. Conductors Zdravko Šljivac, Alan Bjelinski, Siniša Leopold, Stipica Kalogjera, Nikica Kalogjera, Joško Banov et al

8.
Bi-2
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Bi-2 is a Russian rock band, formed in the 80s in Minsk, Belarus. It was one of the most successful with sales and chart-hits in Russia. Bi-2 was awarded MTV Russian Music Awards for Best Rock Act in 2007, the band was formed in 1985 in Minsk, Belarus by two teenagers, Aleksandr Shura Uman and Egor Lyova Bortnik, who were amateur actors. Initially the bands name was Bratya po Oruzhiyu, which was formed in 1988, then Bereg Istini and this word Lyova and Shura begun to use as their scenic names, and Shura eventually changed his passport surname to Bi-II. In the beginning of the 90s the two moved to Israel and as Jews received citizenship, but in 1993 Shura moved to Australia while Lyova remained and served in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1994 Australia Shura formed romantic and professional relationship with pianist and artist Victoria Bilogan, during this time, Lyova and Shura continued to compose music together, exchanging their records and tabs via Internet and phone. Before forming Chiron, Shura collaborated with Dee Ellus, his first English lyricist, Shura, together with Dino Molinaro and Michael Aliani, former members of Ikon, formed the darkwave band Chiron. In 1998 Leva moved to Australia and joined Chiron as well, in 1999, the band consisted only of two men, but the lineup soon was increased by sessional musicians. The band went up to popularity only in 2000, recording the score for popular Brother 2 movie by Aleksei Balabanov, several score songs, included in Bi-2 eponymous debut album, shook rock radio charts, including the influential Nashe Radio chart. Bi-2 continued with Meow Kiss Me and Inomarki, both gold in Russia. Each of their albums included duet records with rock musicians from such bands as Splean, Chaif, Nochniye Snaiperi, Zemfira. Videos for Bi-2 songs often appear at MTV Russia, in 2005 the double CD Nechetny Voin was released, which consisted completely of duets and collaborations. Izmenniki Rodini Bespolaya i Grustnaya Lubov, O Chyom Govoryat Muzhchiny Spirit #16plus TBA Bi-2 Bespolaya i Grustnaya Lubov. Moloko Serebro Volki Moya Lubov Pesok Medlennaya Zvezda Muza Bowie Christmas Optimist Bezvozdushnaya Trevoga Ostrov Bumazhniy Zmey Fellini tour, collection Bi-2 I Simphonicheskiy Orkestr MVD Rossii drum. Nechetny Voin 2,5 Official Website History of the band on another web-site Russmus info on Bi-2, including English translations About the band at last. fm

The dash is a punctuation mark that is similar in appearance to a hyphen or minus sign, but differs from both of these …

These comparisons of the hyphen (-), en dash (–), and em dash (—), in various 12-point fonts, illustrate the typical relationship between lengths ("- n – m —"). In some fonts, the en dash is not much longer than the hyphen, and in Lucida Grande, the en dash is actually shorter than the hyphen.